


the best worst thing (on hiatus)

by catsarelife24



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, M/M, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:25:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsarelife24/pseuds/catsarelife24
Summary: While a serial killer is on the loose in Los Santos, Ray meets a mysterious and handsome stranger named Ryan.{tags will be added as story progresses & although this takes place in Los Santos, there is no fake ah crew- I just like the city}





	1. the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks in advance to anyone who reads this. This is my first ryan/ray centric fic that I've ever written. And don't worry, the rest of the group will make an appearance soon. Also, It's just me looking over my work, so I apologize for any mistakes.

It was another sleepless night for Ray. He was used to it though, getting an average of six hours of sleep in a span of a few days. Under his eyes were perpetual dark circles from the lack of sleep. He was self conscious about it, but his square, black framed glasses usually hid them decently.  

Once again, Ray sat in front of his shitty television, dozing off, just to wake up within a few minutes. He jumped awake when a particularly loud commercial came on. His TV tended to do that, raise the volume at random times. He really needed to buy a new one, but not with the kind of money he was making. Ray was a part time student at the local college in Los Santos, and also worked at a local cafe, not one of those pretentious hipster places, one of the family run businesses.  

Ray looked at the clock on his phone. _3:15 AM. “Fuck.”_ He rubbed his eyes and couldn’t think of a better time to take a walk. Although dangerous, he actually enjoyed taking late walks when the street in front of his apartment was mainly empty. When he didn’t feel like taking a walk, sometimes he would just stay in and smoke a blunt. And sometimes, he just did both. After putting on his favorite purple hoodie, he left his apartment, spliff and lighter in hand.

The cold air immediately hit his face, making him shiver. It was winter, and although it usually didn’t snow, it still got pretty damn cold around this time of year.

 He began to walk down the cracked sidewalk, taking his usual route. After walking a block, Ray lit the joint. He took long drag and slowly blew out the smoke in the shape of rings, which was one of the first things he learned his freshman year of college. He laughed thinking how ridiculous it was for him to be out so early in the morning. Shaking his head, he continued down his path. Every thirty seconds or so a car would pass, but other than that, the city seemed dead. It was peaceful.

 Ray’s thoughts were interrupted by shouting. He stopped in his tracks. It sounded like two men fighting. The sounds were coming from the alley directly ahead of Ray. He didn’t want any trouble, but being the snoop that he was, he wanted to know what was going on. He crouched down to the pavement behind a large dumpster and decided to quickly sneak a look. _Big fucking mistake._ As soon as he poked his head from behind the dumpster, he saw a man fall to the ground, making horrific groaning noises. A tall man stood above him, wielding a knife. As soon his he saw the knife sink into the man below, Ray gasped, and then immediately slapped his hand over his mouth. It was too late thought, the man with the knife saw Ray. The man’s head turned to look at Ray. He was met with a terrifying skull mask.

 Time almost seemed to slow down for Ray as he turned his heels while still in crouch position, and quickly stood to his feet, promptly running back the way he came. He didn’t think he had ever ran so fast in his entire life. He thought he heard another pair of footsteps running after him, so he continued to sprint, not even looking behind him. He knew by just playing enough video games, that you never look behind you when something’s chasing you. You just keep fucking running.

Ray made it all the way to his apartment building, and still didn’t stop running until he was up the stairs and in his apartment with the door locked. When he looked outside his window, the streets were deserted, and Ray hoped that meant he wasn’t followed. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, and his breath was heavy and staggered. He couldn’t fucking believe what he just saw. He witnessed a murder. With his own eyes. There was definitely no way he was getting to sleep now. And he even dropped his joint while he was running.

 Unexpectedly, Ray eventually dozed off once the adrenaline wore off. He woke up curled on his couch, still wearing all of his clothes, including his hoodie _and_ shoes. He groaned and rubbed his stiff neck, angry at himself for not just lying down in his bed like a normal person. He let out a large yawn and sat upright. He was mindlessly flipping through channels on the television when a news story caught his attention. Ray’s eyes widened when he heard the reporter.

It was a story on the murder last night that Ray witnessed. The man that was killed was not only stabbed to death, but his body was chopped into neat pieces and left in the alley. Ray thought he was going to be sick when he heard the details. Apparently they suspected the murder to be the responsibility of the newest Los Santos serial killer, who has already killed four people already in the span of a month. Ray remembered hearing about other killings, but never really pieced it together until now. He felt bad for not calling the police, but he also didn’t want to be the next victim. He decided to keep his mouth shut about the whole situation for the time being.

His phone buzzed next to him, making him jump. After nearly having a heart attack, he almost had another heart attack when he saw it was his boss calling. It was already 8:30 AM and he was late to work.

“Fuck fuck fuck.” He cursed, leaving his apartment without bothering to change into different clothes. He was lucky that the cafe was just a short walk away. He hauled ass and got there in ten minutes.

 Ray’s face was flushed bright red when he came into the cafe and was a hot sputtering mess. He quickly got behind the counter and put on an apron.

“Jesus, fuck. What happened to you?” Michael asked. He was an auburn, curly-haired guy with freckles and a bad temper. He was one of Ray’s closest friends.

 “Sorry man, I overslept.” Ray said apologetically.

 Michael gave him a surprised look. “Wow, you actually slept? Now there’s a new one.” He simultaneously took customer’s orders while talking. Ray didn’t know how he got anything done.

 “Yeah, I know. It surprised me too.” Ray shrugged, mindlessly pouring coffee into a cup and grabbing a pastry from the display shelf for a customer. He and Michael had things down to a science, and they were probably the most valuable employees. Well, they were two out of 6 employees, so there wasn’t much competition.

 Michael took the money from another customer, and gave them a to-go cup of coffee.

“So, did ya hear about that murder last night? Some fucking psycho serial killer.” He said, gesticulating wildly.

 Ray’s heart started to beat faster when he heard that. “Um, yeah. Pretty fucked up.”

Michael nodded his head in agreeance while grabbing a pot of coffee and leaving the counter to refill the cups of the few people who actually sat down in the cafe. They had a policy that anyone who bought a standard cup of coffee and actually sat down in the cafe to drink it, got free refills. Most people just got everything to go, but there were a few regulars who actually came in and actually ordered their coffee and food for there. Ray liked those people because they actually left tips. Ray didn’t mind the job, but he wasn’t really getting paid a ton, so any tips helped.

 As Ray fiddled with the cash register, the bell on the front door signaled another customer coming in. When he looked up, it was a tall man with dark blond hair that was pushed back away from his face. He was handsome with alluring blue eyes.

 “You want some coffee? We have a new type of espresso that’ll really wake you up. Or do you want a pastry? We got a strawberry filled pastry wi-”

 “Do you have tea?” The man cut Ray off. His voice was deep, but attractive.

 “Um, yeah,” he cleared his throat, “We have green, herbal, black, lemon-”

 “I’ll take the herbal tea.” He answered.

 “For here or to go?” Ray asked, feeling his face flush.

 “To go. Also, I’ll take a strawberry filled pastry thing.” his lips curled into a smile, but he had a contradicting look in his eyes.

 “Good choice. That’ll be seven dollars and ninety five cents.” Ray said. The man quickly took a crumpled ten dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to Ray.

 “Keep the change for yourself.”

 “Wow man, thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.” Ray said wholeheartedly while quickly pouring the hot tea into a large styrofoam cup and putting the pastry into a small paper bag.

 “It’s no problem,” The man said, taking the pastry out of the bag and taking a large bite of it. He licked his lips and said, “Tasty. Hope to see you again, Ray.”

 “Wait, how do you know my name?” Ray asked with a puzzled look on his face.

 He motioned towards Ray’s chest and Ray realized he had his nametag on. His face was even redder than before.

 “Oh…”

 The man chuckled and turned to walk away.

 “Well, what’s your name then?” Ray asked with confidence that he didn’t know he had.

 He looked back at him, “I’m Ryan.” and continued out the door.

 Ray watched Ryan leave and finally snapped out of his daze when he heard Michael laughing. “Holy shit dude, you’re embarrassing.”

“Shut up, I don’t need to ever be reminded of that interaction ever again.” Ray face-palmed just thinking about it. He was so fucking awkward.

 “Hey, at least it was pretty obvious that he liked you,” Michael shrugged, “Maybe he’ll come back again if he isn’t already scared off from your awkwardness.” He continued to laugh wildly.

“Fucker,” Ray said, playfully slapping Michael’s arm. He really hoped that he would come back again-He hoped that _Ryan_ would come back again.


	2. what a coincidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael is kind of a dick, the rest of the group is introduced, and Ray bumps into Ryan again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the group is introduced, how exciting!!!

“So, we going to the bar tonight?” Michael asked, taking off his apron. Their shift was finally done, and they were supposed to close the tiny cafe. It was Thursday, and they always closed early at 5 PM on Thursdays and Fridays. Ray didn’t really know why. There were a few stragglers left in the cafe, but most just wanted a coffee to go.

“Yeah, man. Lemme just take stock real quick and I’ll lock up,” Ray answered. “Ya know I could just meet you there. It’s like a fifteen minute walk.”

Michael waved his hand in dismissal. “Nah, I’ll just wait. Anyways, It’s kind of creepy walking alone on the streets around here… With the whole serial killer thing.”

“I’m sure you could take him.” Ray said before heading into the back. Michael rolled his eyes, sat down at one of the few tables, and waited for Ray to be done with inventory. He rested his chin in his hand and yawned.

After a few minutes, Ray was back. “Okay, of course we’re running low on the regular blend coffee, but that’s it. We can go now.”

“Sweet, let’s party.” Michael said with a thumbs up.

“Oh yeah, gonna get fucking crunk!” Ray yelled, obviously sarcastic. He didn’t even drink.

* * *

 

5-11 PM was the prime time for the bar, so a small crowd was already forming inside. Even though Ray didn’t drink, this was the place where his friends hung out the most, and he didn’t really mind too much.

Michael and Ray walked in and were immediately greeted by Geoff, a heavily tattooed man with a large handlebar mustache, who was one of Ray’s closest friends. He also just so happened to be the owner of the bar. A large, green glowing sign on the outside of the building read “ _Achievement City”,_ the name of the bar. It was his pride and joy.

“Hey guys, have fun at work?” Geoff asked, not really expecting an answer from them. “Get some drinks- the party’s just starting.” He chuckled and went back to talking to an unfamiliar group of people. Ray sometimes thought Geoff had a whole other secret group of friends that he hung out with due to the amount of unfamiliar people he talked to. But maybe it just came with owning a bar. He had to be friendly to customers.

“Heyo Jack!” Michael yelled over the loud conversations of the bar. “I’ll take a beer!”

“Coming right up, good sir.” Jack said with a sarcastic tone. The ginger-haired man with a large beard was the co-owner of the bar with Geoff. They both bought the bar just a while before they met the rest of their little group.

“So, when are you going to burn that Hawaiian shirt, huh?” Ray questioned Jack with a playful tone, gesturing towards the bold, heavily patterned shirt Jack was wearing.

“Hey, you know this is my lucky shirt.” Jack said, setting Michael’s beer down in front of him and a glass of Coke in front of Ray. Even though they gave Jack shit sometimes, they still appreciated him for everything that he did.

Ray sipped on his Coke and looked around the bar; it smelled of cigarettes and booze. The bar wasn’t the cleanest place in the world- it had a grungy look and feel to it, but that was the appeal. Plus, people were allowed to smoke inside, which wasn’t the case in most bars and restaurants around town.

“Yo, Ray. Are you even listening?” Michael said, snapping his fingers in Ray’s face to get his attention.

“What?” He said flatly, trying to hide the fact that he didn’t hear a word from Michael.

“For the sixth time, have you seen Gav anywhere?” Michael questioned. “He told me he’d meet us here.”

“Your boyfriend is over there, talking to Lindsay.” Jack motioned towards a booth in the corner where a woman with dyed red hair was talking to a taller, slim man with lightish brown hair. It reminded Ray of Ryan’s hair color. Lindsay was a friend of the group, and one of the first people Geoff and Jack hired to help take care of the bar. She mainly waitressed and served simple bar food, but she also was a pretty decent bartender. She also might have dated Michael before he came out as gay, but they all stayed friends.

“Hey, thanks Jack. Ya know, you’re not as bad as they say.” Michael said before making his way to Lindsay and Gavin. Jack rolled his eyes and grumbled, but didn’t say anything, just continuing making people drinks.

“Ah, love is in the air.” Ray raised his glass haphazardly, not expecting anyone to answer to him.

“I’ll drink to that.” Ray heard a deep voice behind him say. “Can I get a Diet Coke?” Ray did a double take when he saw who sat down next to him. _Fucking Ryan._ He could feel his face get flushed, which seemed to be a recurring theme when he saw the way too attractive man next to him.

“What are you doing here?” Ray asked and cleared his throat. He tried not to seem too interested. That’s what you do when you like someone, right? He always felt like a fucking idiot.

“What a coincidence. Fancy seeing you here.” Ryan said, not answering the question.

“Here ya go.” Jack said, sliding a can of Diet Coke and a glass in front of Ryan.

“Thanks.” Ryan said politely, handing Jack a five dollar bill. Jack went to open the cash register to get change, but Ryan put his hand out to stop him. “You can keep the change.”

“Shit, seriously?” Jack questioned, raising his eyebrows. Ryan nodded in response.

“I appreciate it.”

Ray cocked his eyebrow and turned to Ryan. “Well, aren’t you nice?”

“I’m a nice guy.” Ryan shrugged and took a swig of his drink. “You don’t drink?” he gestured to Ray’s glass.

“Nope. You?”

“No.”

“Uh, cool.” Ray couldn’t get over how good Ryan looked. The faded blue t-shirt he was wearing hugged his toned, broad body so well. “ _What the fuck is wrong with me? I just met him. Chill the fuck out, Ray.”_ He thought to himself.

After minutes of awkwardness, Michael came back, with Gavin trailing behind him. Lindsay must’ve gotten back to serving food and drinks to the booths.

“We’re gonna need another round of bevs.” Gavin said to Jack, his words slurred more than usual and his English accent thick.

“Yeah, bevs!” Michael agreed, wrapping his arm around Gavin.

“You guys are going to fuck up your kidneys eventually.” Jack warned, not totally serious.

Michael shook his head and turned his attention to Ray. “Hey, can I bum a smoke?”

Ray rolled his eyes and passed out cigarettes to Michael and Gavin. He offered one to Jack, even though he claimed he quit smoking a week ago.

Jack thought about it for about half a second and said, “Fuck it.” Everyone pulled out their own lighter simultaneously. Everyone had their own special vice, but smoking was one they all shared.

Ray inhaled the smoke and let it out slowly. “Damn, I needed that.” He said. They all laughed and agreed. “Want one?” Ray asked, holding the pack out in front of Ryan.

“Haven’t smoked it a long time.” Ray was ready to put it away, but then Ryan continued, “Eh, I’ll take one.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jack said to Ryan.

Michael and Gavin weren’t paying attention too much, mostly just to each other’s mouths. They always got super touchy when drunk, even touchier than normal. But, Ryan’s voice caught Michael’s attention. “Holy fucking shit!” Michael exclaimed, pointing in Ryan’s direction. “You were at the cafe this morning; ya know Ray thought you were cuuute.” He began to babble.

Ray looked taken aback. “What the fuck?” He felt his face get hot, and anger bubbled inside him. He knew Michael was drunk, but that was a total dick move. Michael just shrugged, acting as if he did Ray a favor or something.

“Fuck, I’m gonna head out. Got class tomorrow.” Ray said, excusing himself. He could hear Jack chewing out Michael, but he couldn’t hear the specifics. He was so fucking embarrassed, his ears were buzzing and he felt like he was underwater.

“Hey, going so soon?” Ray felt a hand pull on the arm of his jacket. It was Geoff, who was now with his wife Griffon. Griffon also had an impressive tattoo collection, and her short dirty blonde hair was streaked with different bright colors.

“Yeah, We haven’t even talked yet.” She agreed, beer in hand. “Why don’t you stay a while?”

“Can’t. I got class in the morning.”

Geoff put his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay. Fine, go get your education. But, you better be at movie night on Saturday.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there. I’m always there.” Ray said, giving the man a quick hug.

“Stay safe!” Geoff yelled as Ray left. Those words made Ray shiver. Just knowing that there was an actual fucking serial killer loose in the city was enough to freak him out. But, with the addition of actually witnessing a murder and the killer potentially seeing Ray’s face really freaked him out.

He loitered outside of the bar and finished his cigarette. He watched people come and go out of the bar. It was like a well-oiled machine. A group of people could go, and another group would come in. After flicking the cigarette butt on the sidewalk and crushing it with the bottom of his shoe, he decided he should probably get back to his apartment. He wasn’t kidding when he said he had a class in the morning. He also wanted to get out of the whole situation between Michael and Ryan.

Ray took two steps when he heard Ryan’s voice behind him. “Hey, do you need someone to walk with you? It could be dangerous with the whole serial killer situation.”

Ray so desperately wanted to say yes. It was his ultimate fantasy to have a strong man like Ryan walk him home and give him a nice fucking, but he just couldn’t do it. The embarrassment got the best of him. “Um, I’m fine. Sorry about my friends, though.” He nervously ran a hand through his dark hair.

Ryan nodded understandingly. “It’s okay. That Michael’s a firecracker.” Ray laughed in agreement. “Well, anyways. Stay safe, Ray.”

“Will do.” Ray gave an awkward salute, and began walking home.

When he got home, he immediately collapsed into bed. It was early, but he hoped sleep would come just for tonight. He really wanted sleep. And for the second night in a row, Ray slept fully clothed. His dreams were full of serial killers and Ryan. He even dreamed that Ryan was a serial killer. Now that was interesting. Ray didn’t read too much into it, though.


	3. the theatre class situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is short and it's been like 5 months since i updated lol oops

Ray didn’t know why he signed up for a 9 AM class on a Friday morning. He mentally kicked himself when he heard is annoying ass alarm go off. He decided to actually take a shower and put on clean clothes this time. He indulged a little while in the shower, letting the hot water run over him longer than usual. He dried off quickly, shaking his dark hair like a dog. He knew he didn’t dress the best, but he didn’t think putting on a t-shirt and jeans was so bad. 

After drawing a smiley face on the fogged up glass of the mirror and running a comb quickly through his hair, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and left his apartment. He hoped he wouldn’t miss the bus. Yeah, he didn’t have his license, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal when living in a big city. The nearest bus stop was just a block from Ray’s apartment.

He made it to the bus stop in time, but barely. He was the last one on, but he actually got a seat.

Ray didn’t mind riding the bus to the campus, it was a short ride anyways. But, some of the people on the bus were pretty fucking weird. There was always this guy who tried to sell drugs. Literally any kind of drug you wanted, he had. Ray had considered it before, but he ultimately decided there was too much of a risk that the drugs weren’t actually what the guy said they were. Ray only got his shit from reputable dealers. Everyone who rode the bus knew the guy. Apart from the drug addicts and homeless people, there were actually normal people on the bus sometimes. Ray liked to think he was one of those normal people.

The bus ride took roughly fifteen minutes on average to get to campus. Ray watched the bustling city go by in a blur. There was so much of the city he hadn’t actually seen. He thought to himself maybe he would eventually check out some of the stores and restaurants downtown. 

Although Los Santos was known for being especially crime-ridden, the Los Santos college campus was undeniably beautiful. Most of the city’s money went into rebuilding most of the campus just a few years back, so a lot of the buildings had been remodeled. There were still a few building with “character” as they say, which is just a nice way of saying old as fuck and falling apart.

The last stop was in the heart of the campus, right next to the huge bell tower. Ray and about fifty percent of the other people got off at this stop. Not only did the bus attract crazy drug addicts, it was also the most popular way for college kids to get to and around campus quickly. 

Ray looked at his watch.  _ 8:55 AM.  _ He hauled ass down the sidewalk, trying not to run into anyone. He eventually got to the right building and bust through the lecture hall door just in time. 

The lecture for today was about the history of theatre in ancient Greece and it was boring as hell. Ray didn’t know why he decided to take a theatre history class in the first place, maybe because he thought it would actually be fun. 

He must have dozed off, because he was awoken by people leaving the room.  **_Shit, is it already time to leave?_ **  He thought, wiping drool from his chin. Even though he missed literally the entire lecture, he still had a pretty decent nap. He let out a heavy, tired sigh and slung his backpack over his shoulder, exiting the room. He tried to shake himself awake as he walked down the hallway. While rubbing his eyes, he ran into someone, which nearly knocked him over. Ray let out an “Ooof!”, stumbling backwards. When he opened his eyes, he damn near had a heart attack right there. It was the Ryan, the gorgeous god he had met yesterday, the one who he mysteriously kept running into. Figuratively the other times and literally this time.

“Woah, are you okay?” Ryan asked, his face looked genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine,” Ray answered, “Are you following me or something?” He blurted out, immediately regretting it.

Ryan chuckled lightly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I volunteer here with the theatre program. I majored in theatre when I went here.” 

Ray’s face reddened, which seemed to be a recurring theme when he was around Ryan. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

Ryan put his hand on Ray’s shoulder, “It’s fine, really. It does kind of look suspicious, since we keep running into each other. But, I promise it’s purely a coincidence.” He cocked an eyebrow, keeping eye contact with Ray. 

Ray just gave him a small smile, unsure what to say, especially with his hand on his shoulder.

“Well, I got to go.” Ryan said. He was gone before Ray could say anything.

**_Jesus, this is weird._ ** Ray thought for a second, but his mind was soon preoccupied with what he was going to have for breakfast. But still, the whole Ryan situation stayed in the back of his mind.


End file.
